could have. I implore you. Do not replace me. I will do the best I can to fix my wrongdoings. But, if you do indeed choose my competitor, then I wish him, and all of you, the best of luck. That will be all.”

Not a word had been spoken during his speech, and none were uttered afterward. Doc bowed his head and silently walked back to his place, sitting down humbly as the black and white husky walked up and stood before the rest of the town dogs. He looked much more determined than he had before when he was greeting the others. He cleared his throat just like Doc had done.

“Hello to you all. Most of you probably don’t know me, my name is Henry for future references. Yes, I did just blow into town the other day, but I would like to assure you that I have more than enough experience to take over this position. During my two years as a judge, slash leader, I cleaned up the town of Fairbanks. It used to be a crime infested rat hole before I took charge, and now it is a much more peaceful place. I left that city to seek out others in need, and apparently I came here just in the nick of time. 

“From what I heard over my short time here, your most respected of your citizens, has let you down tremendously. Who knows what could have happened, had it not been found out that he was hiding this valuable information from you?” Henry heard murmurs in the crowd, and he tried to hide a smile. “How many more lives would it have taken to open his eyes to his wrongs!?” Henry could hear the whispering starting to build. “Are we going to let this happen again!?”

“No!” cried a voice from the audience.

“Are we going to let this act go unpunished!?” Henry said, getting more and more passionate about his cause.

“No!” shouted a few more voices this time.

The dog who had started this debate suddenly stood up. “The crowd is not to respond!” his voice boomed.

The crowd didn’t seem to care, and ignored him. Henry continued to bellow out his speech, receiving the exact answer he wanted to here. This felt great!

“Are we going to let Doc make this mistake again!?!”

“Never!!”

And after all the hype that Henry caused, he suddenly became calm. “My speech is concluded.”

There was a roar of applause as he took his seat. The original dog retook his place in front.

“Alright then. Now that the two candidates have spoken, it is time to vote. And I urge you to choose wisely. All in favor of Doc keeping his position, please raise one paw.”

There was hushed talking. Doc didn’t even need to guess who would win this round, but it still didn’t prepare him for the hurt he would feel when only a handful of paws rose into the air. And maybe a wing. The dog counted and sighed.

“All in favor of Henry taking over Doc’s current position, please raise one paw.”

It was nearly mesmerizing as a wave of paws shot into the air. The dog didn’t even need to count. It was an obvious landslide victory for the challenger. Doc stood up and walked from the front with all the dignity he had left. He held his head high as the crowd split before him. Even though he had predicted the outcome, Doc couldn’t hide a small tear that broke lose. This is what they had all wanted, and there was nothing he could do anymore to stop them. He saw someone rush up to him from the corner of his eye. It was Jenna.

“Doc, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can-”

Doc cut her off. “I thank you for the sympathy, and also for trying to keep me where I was, but you really don’t need to waste your time on an old bag like me.”

“Doc-”

“Please. I just need my time alone to think. If you really must, you can visit me at my home. But now… just isn’t a good time.”

He suddenly broke away from her in a run, rushing out of the boiler room and into the street before disappearing. Jenna stood there, shocked.

“C’mon Jen, let’s head home,” Balto said to her as he walked up.

She frowned but nodded anyways. They walked away together in silence, being followed by a few others as Henry began explaining everything that he would do. And everything that would change..

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Star had just finished his dinner and was now walking down the street. He didn’t want to be bored any longer, so he had decided to pay Kaltag a visit. He turned down an alley, not the one from the other night of course, but a different one. Half-buried pieces of timber and other miscellaneous items such as crates and chains littered either side. Star slowed and looked over his shoulder, but realized that that cough must have been in his imagination. The cool, blue beams from the moon above lit his way. He began to jog as the end of the alley came closer into view. As he reached the exit, he sat down, looking curiously to his right and left to get his bearings when a cloud bank covered up the moon. He began to walk away when he felt a sudden tugging on his tail. Before he could look back, he was yanked from whence he had come. A paw had clasped his muzzle shut. He would do no screaming. They were against the wall of a building, hidden in the shadows, and Star couldn’t turn his head back to see who had grabbed him.

“Surprised we’re back so soon?” chuckled a voice.

Star’s eyes widened and he struggled with all his might. He didn’t even need to see who it was. He already knew that this was the voice of Hal.

“Shh. Shh, little pup.” Star felt warm breathing on the back of his neck. “You wouldn’t want me to rip your little throat out, would you?” Hal laughed.

Star suddenly quit all motion. He gulped quietly and began whimpering.

“Now listen Pup. I have a little job for you… First. Were you going to visit someone?”

Star nodded, and Hal cracked a grin.

“Excellent. Now. I want you to go there. Tell the dog nothing about me, and lure him or her into this alley. I will then proceed in inducting them into our family. If you don’t do what I say, however… Then neither you nor your friend will live to see the break of dawn. Got it?” he hissed.

Star shook his head frantically.

“Good. I’ll be watching. So don’t betray me.”

Star barreled away as soon as he felt Hal’s grip loosen on him. He saw Kaltag’s house and he started to slow. Should he really do this? He really didn’t want to drag his friend into this, but if he didn’t, then there was a good chance that both of them would die. He could just go to a different house, right? No. No. Hal would surely figure it out. He looked over his shoulder and scanned the row of houses. He tried to think, but his paranoia was already starting to slowly eat away at his thoughts.

“Kaltag, please forgive me.”

He stopped onto the porch, but hesitated before he pushed open the dog door. There was Kaltag, sprawled out on the floor and snoozing. Star padded up to him slowly and nudged the sleeping dog. Kaltag rolled over and tried to bat Star away before he yawned widely and began to stand up.

“What do you want?” he asked drowsily.

“Well, ugh, I… I was thinking we could go get Nikki, and, maybe do something?”

Kaltag gave a long stretch coupled with another yawn. “And I’m supposing that you won’t stop pestering me until I do.” He chuckled when Star shook his head. “Alright then, let’s get this over with.”

Star bolted out of his house, and Kaltag followed, at a much slower pace of course. As he stepped out, he gave a quick shudder from the sudden change in temperature. He spotted Star rushing down an alley from the corner of his eye.

“Hey! Hold on a minute!” Kaltag called as he jogged after him.

He turned the corner down the alley, but suddenly came to a halt when he saw that it looked completely empty. He stepped forward cautiously as a gust of wind ruffled his fur and sent snowflakes tumbling through the air around him.

“Star?” he said with more bravery than what he actually had.

The hairs on the back of Kaltag’s neck were standing up now. He padded farther into the alley and called out for Star again, but still heard no reply. The Chinook began to back away. This was getting a little to creepy for him.

“I’m sorry Kaltag,” he heard Star reply.

It had come from behind him. He started to turn around. “For what?”

“For this,” said an unfamiliar sounding voice.

Before he could say any more, he was flat on his back with a paw at his throat. His eyes fluttered open and they saw a most unpleasant sight.

“Hey! What’re you doing!? Get offa-” Kaltag was suddenly cut off when a paw smacked him across the face.

“Now listen to me,” Hal hissed almost giddily, “you better behave Pup.” He pressed his paw down on Kaltag’s throat, making him gag for a few seconds before he released pressure again. “Star knows especially well that I don’t play around. So if you try and argue with me, or call out for help, I won’t hesitate to rip you to pieces.” His clown nose bobbed as he licked his chops. “Now, you’re going to do what I say. You’re going to do it with a pretty little smile on your pretty little face. Got it?” he growled.

Kaltag looked like he was about ready to protest, so Hal decided to put a claw at his throat. He beamed down at Kaltag and laughed quietly.

“Please, think wisely Pup. There’s only one right answer. And if